1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for collecting bottles and bagging them.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the production of bottled goods, the bottles are often purchased in bagged lots which must be opened and fed one-by-one into the bottling stream. Bagged lots of bottles and an apparatus for unbagging them and feeding them into the bottling stream are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,594, issued Dec. 3, 1991. The bagged lot is typically formed as a single layer of bottles which are arranged into a square or rectangular matrix. The grouped bottles are encased in a plastic bag, the open end of which has been closed by heat sealing or the like. The closing of the bag creates a sealed flap on one end which may be used to open the bag.
Typically, automated bottling facilities fill bottles at high speed in large volumes. To provide the large numbers of bottles, the bottles are usually produced by high speed automatic apparatus such as blow molding machinery. Consequently, the great numbers of bottles produced must be bagged rapidly, efficiently, and economically to be passed on to the bottling facility.